It's amazing to me that this film got such rough going-over by so many of the critics on the thread. While BUD AND LOU was not one of the classic films of all time, it was far better than its critics here make it out to be, including the unexpectedly good casting of Buddy Hackett and Harvey Korman as Lou Costello and Bud Abbott. Both comedians rarely got a chance to show their dramatic flair. Momentary flair ups in television or movie roles were the closest, such as an episode of THE NUTT HOUSE that Korman was in (which I just wrote about) or an appearance by Hackett on a western (I think it was THE BIG VALLEY) years ago. The latter is odd in another way: Costello did a dramatic turn on WAGON TRAIN which was also unexpected, and quite good too.
Some comic teams fell together by sheer accident, the most notable being Laurel & Hardy, wherein the glue was Hal Roach. Others are born together or near each other (the Marx Brothers, the Three Stooges - except for Larry). Some marry together (Burns & Allan). Lou Costello and Bud Abbott fell into each other's paths in the course of the old vaudeville and burlesque theater circuits. Both were from New Jersey (Lou...as he never stopped mentioning...from Patterson, N.J.*; Bud from Asbury Park), and both honed their person-as on stage until they met and found each other was the perfect fit as a partner. Bud was always the street smarter wise guy who knew how to fast talk his associate into the losing position, while Lou was the dumpy, seemingly stupider or the two. Actually if you watch Lou, his so-called stupidity is basically a questioning of what is going on around him: Lou is a comic everyman type. It worked and together they climbed up in show business. Proof of this is an old newsreel of them with one of their friends and fans: Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia of New York City. He's kidding with them, and ends up hitting Lou. LaGuardia was known for (among other things) driving burlesque theaters out of New York, but he always enjoyed clowning with Bud and Lou. That just shows how they transcended their background.
*Patterson, New Jerseyans has never forgotten his boosting their town: Lou has a statue there.
But there were forces between them that, while not unique, eventually ruined the teamwork. Fortunately it was not for many years. Costello was the creative force - the "Stan Laurel", if you will, of the team. At first this does not matter, as Bud was a straight man, but as their films continue Lou emphasized his role in the humor to the point that Abbott is rarely given much to do. In a film like ABBOTT & COSTELLO MEET THE KILLER, BORIS KARLOFF, there are large sections of the film where Bud vanishes, and the villain is pursuing Lou. In fact, the film is one of the few where Lou momentarily turns the table on Bud, suggesting to an increasingly receptive crowd of people that Bud is the killer (Abbott looks really panicky in this moment, though it is actually a ruse by Costello to smoke out the real killer). Bud Abbott probably did not appreciate this treatment. The later films shows the strains on their relationship. But to be fair other comic partners had strains. Paul McCullough is believed to have committed suicide due to mistreatment by Bobby Clark. Joe Weber and Lew Fields eventually split their act for several decades, until Hollywood reunited them a few times.
This film (based on a book by their manager Eddie Collins (Arte Johnson)) describes how the team made it as a national phenomenon, particularly after they played their best remembered routine, "Who's On First" on national radio. Actually Korman and Hackett were not abysmal in performing that mental twisting skit. No they are not the real Abbott and Costello, but they don't have to be the real ones. The real ones performed it flawlessly again and again throughout their careers, while Korman and Hackett only had to do it for this one film. Similarly they had only to do the "Captain Jonah and the Whale" story joke only once. They had to do it in the context of the movie.
The tragedy of Costello's infant son's tragic drowning is shown, and how it adds to the tensions in the partnership. So is Abbott's epilepsy (I remember one scene where Korman is in a dressing room and feels a seizure coming and uses a pencil to prevent himself from swallowing his tongue). Tax problems caught up with both men (somewhat unfairly - the IRS apparently targeted them, despite their having worked selling bonds during the war years). Universal Studios, growing tired with the bullying behavior of Lou, dumped them when they were in need of help with the IRS (leading to Johnson's best moment in the film - telling off the owners of the studio that if it wasn't for Bud and Lou there wouldn't be a Universal Studio). Abbott's growing alcoholism leads to a fiasco in Las Vegas that ends the partnership. And soon after Costello dies of a heart attack. The film, by the way, shows the end correctly: Lou having a milk shake in his hospital bed (thanks to Eddie) and remarking it was the best he ever had, just before dying.
It was a well acted film, only missing out on one ironic last point about Lou. He was going to play Mayor LaGuardia in the new musical FIORELLO when he died. Had he done so, his career would have zoomed off again.
Some comic teams fell together by sheer accident, the most notable being Laurel & Hardy, wherein the glue was Hal Roach. Others are born together or near each other (the Marx Brothers, the Three Stooges - except for Larry). Some marry together (Burns & Allan). Lou Costello and Bud Abbott fell into each other's paths in the course of the old vaudeville and burlesque theater circuits. Both were from New Jersey (Lou...as he never stopped mentioning...from Patterson, N.J.*; Bud from Asbury Park), and both honed their person-as on stage until they met and found each other was the perfect fit as a partner. Bud was always the street smarter wise guy who knew how to fast talk his associate into the losing position, while Lou was the dumpy, seemingly stupider or the two. Actually if you watch Lou, his so-called stupidity is basically a questioning of what is going on around him: Lou is a comic everyman type. It worked and together they climbed up in show business. Proof of this is an old newsreel of them with one of their friends and fans: Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia of New York City. He's kidding with them, and ends up hitting Lou. LaGuardia was known for (among other things) driving burlesque theaters out of New York, but he always enjoyed clowning with Bud and Lou. That just shows how they transcended their background.
*Patterson, New Jerseyans has never forgotten his boosting their town: Lou has a statue there.
But there were forces between them that, while not unique, eventually ruined the teamwork. Fortunately it was not for many years. Costello was the creative force - the "Stan Laurel", if you will, of the team. At first this does not matter, as Bud was a straight man, but as their films continue Lou emphasized his role in the humor to the point that Abbott is rarely given much to do. In a film like ABBOTT & COSTELLO MEET THE KILLER, BORIS KARLOFF, there are large sections of the film where Bud vanishes, and the villain is pursuing Lou. In fact, the film is one of the few where Lou momentarily turns the table on Bud, suggesting to an increasingly receptive crowd of people that Bud is the killer (Abbott looks really panicky in this moment, though it is actually a ruse by Costello to smoke out the real killer). Bud Abbott probably did not appreciate this treatment. The later films shows the strains on their relationship. But to be fair other comic partners had strains. Paul McCullough is believed to have committed suicide due to mistreatment by Bobby Clark. Joe Weber and Lew Fields eventually split their act for several decades, until Hollywood reunited them a few times.
This film (based on a book by their manager Eddie Collins (Arte Johnson)) describes how the team made it as a national phenomenon, particularly after they played their best remembered routine, "Who's On First" on national radio. Actually Korman and Hackett were not abysmal in performing that mental twisting skit. No they are not the real Abbott and Costello, but they don't have to be the real ones. The real ones performed it flawlessly again and again throughout their careers, while Korman and Hackett only had to do it for this one film. Similarly they had only to do the "Captain Jonah and the Whale" story joke only once. They had to do it in the context of the movie.
The tragedy of Costello's infant son's tragic drowning is shown, and how it adds to the tensions in the partnership. So is Abbott's epilepsy (I remember one scene where Korman is in a dressing room and feels a seizure coming and uses a pencil to prevent himself from swallowing his tongue). Tax problems caught up with both men (somewhat unfairly - the IRS apparently targeted them, despite their having worked selling bonds during the war years). Universal Studios, growing tired with the bullying behavior of Lou, dumped them when they were in need of help with the IRS (leading to Johnson's best moment in the film - telling off the owners of the studio that if it wasn't for Bud and Lou there wouldn't be a Universal Studio). Abbott's growing alcoholism leads to a fiasco in Las Vegas that ends the partnership. And soon after Costello dies of a heart attack. The film, by the way, shows the end correctly: Lou having a milk shake in his hospital bed (thanks to Eddie) and remarking it was the best he ever had, just before dying.
It was a well acted film, only missing out on one ironic last point about Lou. He was going to play Mayor LaGuardia in the new musical FIORELLO when he died. Had he done so, his career would have zoomed off again.